Inopinatum Adimpletionem
by C. Rinkuki Takato
Summary: Unexpected Fulfillment - In his deed of extinguishing his defected pawn, Chaos has unexpectedly created an thorn to the collective sides of his warriors when the goddess of harmony unexpectedly intervened; the defected pawn joined with the other side to put an end to the triumphing forces of chaos. Will the traitor make a difference, or is the future already set in stone?
1. I: Reminiscence of Soldier

Author note at the bottom.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: All materials belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing around in their sandbox while feeling happy that I don't have to think of the next canon plot whatsoever.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Reminiscence of Soldier's Desire**

* * *

For the first time in his life (AKA cycles), Cloud Strife couldn't help but think how foolish he was. Of course, seeing his childhood friend (and crush) probably had something to do with his suddenly unusually absent logic.

After all, who would, in their right mind, challenge _Chaos himself_ all by _themselves_?

Of _course_. Him. And got himself utterly beaten. Just when he thought he had finally won, too.

As he laid before Chaos' throne, vaguely aware on how Chaos was just sitting there, doing nothing but _talking_ as he watched his own pawn fading, his mind took his consciousness through the memories that ended up with him there.

* * *

It had been cycles since he was here. He could tell that time seemed to hold no meaning here, evidenced by how everyone, Cosmos' _or_ Chaos', looked mostly the same unless injured, outfits not included. Sure, the sun rose and set. But that was it. It was like the world itself was looping a single day, merely changing the hours, the weather, and nothing more. For all he knew, perhaps that was the case.

Such an endless nightmare.

Cloud had lost track how long he was here. When he was first summoned, with little to no memories, he readily participated in the battles. He was hoping that he would recover his memories as he fought, and return to where he belonged, wherever that was.

He had to admit that that was a goal unfitting of a Chaos warrior; it was those of Cosmos' who held that goal, after all.

As the cycles pass with Shinryuu's comings, his memories returned in trickles. He had overheard others on how the memories would return faster should he fought someone from his own world. Alas, he didn't found any so far, so he had to stick with the only other way that he knew of.

He had learned that the longer a warrior remained undefeated, the more memories he would get, and _keep_. Cloud had overheard the Emperor, who he vaguely remembered was called as 'Mateus', talking about it with Kefka, the crazy clown. It was kinda accidental, actually, considering he was already there, resting from his last battle, when they came out of nowhere. Out of reflex, he hid behind the closest thing that came to mind, AKA a pillar (they were in World of Darkness back then). Now, he was thankful that he hid; he was sure that they wouldn't talk so freely if they knew he was there. Cloud had a sneaking suspicion that they were even older than himself.

Perhaps as old as Garland? Cloud heard that Garland was the first, though no one confirmed it.

After he survived three cycles undefeated, Cloud began to lose his will to fight. What was the use of it, when the warriors of Cosmos would just lose, anyway? Those who fell during the cycles of battle would get purified; they lost all their regained memories, and all experience they had, like they were reset back to where they were. Back to square (read:level) one.

But there were _exceptions_.

If the warrior was too spent, Shinryuu wouldn't purify them. He would left them to fade. To where, Cloud never knew. Despite of what rumors said, Cloud didn't believe that Shinryuu could or would revive them. In fact, Shinryuu's 'purification' was the reset button. When he deemed them useless, no longer having anything of worth to take, Shinryuu would cast them away. Cloud would like to believe that Shinryuu was actually letting them return to their worlds, but he wasn't so sure about that.

After all, he had witnessed it himself. An example of the exception.

It was in his second cycle. Cloud didn't even know the warrior's name. His hair was spiky, not unlike his own, and black. His eyes were blue with a hint of green ( _mako_ , his mind supplied absently). He was a warrior of Cosmos, spent after battling his fellow Chaos warrior. If he wasn't mistaken, he battled Kefka. The warrior, injured and tired, was desperate as he battled Cloud. Cloud could still remember that he was still eager to fight back then. He hadn't battled many, and he had enough rest from his last battle to be back at full strength.

Cloud was known for his brutal efficiency despite being rather slow. He was only second to Garland in brute strength; his blows were strong, capable of throwing his opponent around with ease, and more often than not, bashing them around to the walls of the arena. With a sword as massive as the Buster Sword, it was hard not to be. It was only second to Garland's weapon, after all. Sometimes he wondered how he could even lift the thing.

The warrior never stood a chance.

As the warrior laid bloodied, dying before his feet, Cloud felt like he himself was aging; he no longer hungered for battles. It was like out of a sudden he realized just how bloody the war of the gods was, despite participating in a LOT of battles. The warrior's last words jarred his back from the musings of his mind. Even now, he believed it was the familiarity of the voice that drew him out of his musings. He could still hear it _ringing_ in his ears at times.

"...sorry... I...couldn't fulfill...promise..."

It was then that the name of the warrior suddenly clicked into his mind.

 _Zack..._

Memories flew through his mind as his bored eyes turned into a pair of horrified eyes. His best friend. His ONLY friend. Modeoheim, where they first met... Junon, where Zack treated his fellow infantrymen just to keep an eye on him... Nibelheim, where everything fell apart with his hometown's burning, and Sephiroth descend to madness...The years in a lab... The cliff overlooking Midgar, where his friend died to protect him... After which he was given the Buster Sword by his past-and-now _**dying** friend..._

"Zack!"

The warrior smiled at his name. "Hey...Spike..." the warrior—no, _Zack_ , his **_best friend_** , whispered to him. His purple-hued mako eyes softened even as he winched in pain of his fatal injuries. "It's okay..." he breathed. "We're _friends_... Right?"

It was the first time both Chaos _and_ Cosmos heard such an anguished wail as Shinryuu descended from the skies.

* * *

Cloud felt his lips twitch to a rueful smile as darkness rose from his form, strength bleeding out of him along with his blood. He had almost forgotten that fateful day. Never before he thought he would fight his own friend to the death. Never before he wished so badly that Shinryuu could revive the dead, or even switch allegiances.

He was already so tired of this war that he even tried to help Cosmos' ranks. Oh, not actively, like Kuja (yes, Cloud _DID_ know of his attempts). He was more like... _training_ them. He battled against them, testing their strength and subtly letting (read:forcing) them to improve their styles of fighting. Tempering them, preparing them to defeat Chaos' warriors, then Chaos himself.

How sickening the cycles of the war were, to have your _friends_ as your **_opponent_** , and your _nemesis_ as your **_comrade_**.

When he saw Tifa among Cosmos' ranks, he felt his heart drop as the Zack's dying smile as he faded came back to the forefront of his mind.

 _'No... Not again...'_

He retreated almost immediately to his refuge, an M.S. Prima Vista arena. It was by chance that he met Kuja there. They were _far_ from friends, but to actually hear it from Kuja himself that he was tired of fighting was refreshing. Like they were comforting each other even without directly saying it.

When he heard Kefka saying (more like _implying_ ) that Sephiroth went after Tifa, his heart _plummeted_ to the ground. With a growl, he _dashed_ , away from his refuge, to where Tifa and Sephiroth were. In the back of his mind, he had a suspicion that it was _Kefka's_ idea to pit Sephiroth and Tifa against one another. It was _so_ like him; he was so chaotic, after all, continuously seeking destruction.

When he saw the Masamune pointed to Tifa's throat, his eyes flared, his vision tinged with mako green. His eyes glowed fiercely as the mako in his blood reacted to his emotion.

This time, he wouldn't remain ignorant.

"Matte (Wait), Sephiroth!"

* * *

Cloud's lip and finger twitched, his eyes slowly losing the battle to stay awake, pain flaring all over his body. What did Chaos do to him, anyway? In spite of the agony, his mind was still replaying the memories...

The fight didn't even last long; Sephiroth was only two cycles old (this being his second cycle), while Cloud was older (he didn't even _remember_ how old he was any more; five at the very least). It was when Sephiroth said those things about betrayal did his suspicion confirmed. He sighed as he knew that his fight against Sephiroth to defend Tifa would make his up-until-now peaceful life a lot harder.

Even _Kefka_ wasn't _that_ tolerant to traitors, after all.

When Tifa introduced herself, Cloud knew that Tifa remembered nothing of their past. His heart pounded in his chest as he tried his best to prevent Tifa from seeing his face, and to keep himself from looking at hers. Cloud knew, the second they looked at each other, his already dwindling will would crumble to nothingness.

What was that saying, again? To protect those you love, you have to keep them at a distance?

Forcing himself to remain strong, he declared being uninterested to fight, urging her to leave and join the rest of Cosmos'. Cloud had **_almost_ ** faltered when Tifa bade him farewell. As Tifa departed from the Planet's Core arena, his resolve to end the cycles strengthened.

Even though it would end with his _demise_ , it was fine.

As long as she was _safe..._

Cloud chuckled inwardly. Who would have thought that it would actually happen so soon? Still, he was determined not to let Tifa get hurt; it would be a waste of his sacrifice, after all.

But who would he trust?

...

Of course. The goddess of harmony herself, Cosmos.

As his consciousness slipped, he prayed,

 _'Cosmos, goddess of harmony... If you can hear me, listen to my plea... I beg you; save her. Save my friend...'_

His body went slack as his vision went black. With the last vestiges of his strength, he breathed,

 _ **'Tifa...'**_

* * *

Tifa Lockhart paused in her step, her companions oblivious to her sudden stop. She tilted her head. _'Huh...?'_

"C'mon, Tifa! What are you waiting for?" Laguna called out, snapping her out.

"Ah! Coming!" she replied. She trotted to join her friends who had gained quite the distance.

 _'I could've sworn someone was calling me...'_

* * *

Cosmos stood from her seated position on her throne. "The voice of...a warrior?"

* * *

 **Hi, it's me, Takato. Well, this is my first Dissidia fanfiction, so please bear with me...**

 **The meaning of the title is Unexpected Fulfillment, translated English to Latin using Google Translate. I frankly don't completely trust it, but I have no other choices. Oh well, correct me if I'm wrong, then...**

 **Background story is the Unexpected Fulfillment series from the Reports. To those who haven't done the Reports yet, this will have some spoilers. This story doesn't necessarily follow the original story or timeline. There are details that are inspired by other various Dissidia fanfiction, so I can't thank those other authors enough. However, as I read fanfiction on a _daily_ basis, I tend to not remember where I get them from. If you're one of those aforementioned authors, please don't take offense.  
**

 **This story was first written around June 2015. I have just published this now as my (unofficial) beta didn't send me any news of what she thought of this. I just can't wait any longer and decided to publish this little baby that I wrote like I ran a marathon for less than a month (which I never did before).**

 **Anyway, please enjoy the story,**

 **Regard,**

 **C. Rinkuki Takato**


	2. II: Divergence of Imaginary

Author note at the bottom.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: All materials belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing around in their sandbox while feeling happy that I don't have to think of the next canon plot whatsoever.  
**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Divergence of Imaginary**

* * *

"Do you think the others are here already?" Yuna asked, anxious.

"Who knows?" Vaan shrugged.

"Let's go," Lightning urged. Her comrades nodded and followed her lead, heading for the Order's Sanctuary.

As her fellow Cosmos warriors chatted away, Tifa's mind drifted toward a certain Chaos warrior.

 _'Why do I feel like I've known him before?'_ she thought. _'Why did he attack his own ally to save me, an enemy? I don't believe his reason. Who would save his enemy and attack his ally because they feel like it? Am I missing something?'_

"—fa. Tifa!"

"Huh?" Tifa jolted to reality. She felt the others' anxious eyes on her. She blushed when she noticed that she was already spacing out again, and not long after the previous one, too.

"Are you alright?" Vaan asked. "It's the second time already."

Before Tifa could even answer him, Lightning butted in, "What's with you? Don't tell me it's something important you've been hiding from us," she accused. Tifa could hear the others' sighs of exasperation; Lightning was always suspicious of anything _and_ anyone. No one knew why; they thought that was the way she was, and no one dared to ask.

"Lightning!" Laguna and Vaan were appalled. "That's harsh!" "Be gentler, will ya?"

Lightning didn't even falter her gaze. "Well?" she demanded, ignoring Laguna's exclamation of "Light! Cut it out!" in favor of staring (down) at Tifa.

Tifa shook her head. "No, it's fine. I was just thinking about those on Chaos' side."

Lightning scoffed. "Don't let them deter you from your goal. They are the enemy, after all. It's their job to prevent us from achieving our goal." _'Even if I'm not so sure any more...'_ And there she went, walking (read:storming) off.

Vaan sighed in exasperation. "Sorry about her, Tifa."

Tifa chuckled as she shook her head. A fond smile gracing her face. "It's okay, Vaan. Lightning is hard to convince by anyone, even by the Warrior of Light. And that's saying something."

Laguna snorted. "His name is mouthful, y'know? I prefer Lux ("Light" in Latin) for short," he grinned shamelessly.

Yuna snickered under her hand. Kain, who was previously silent, 'hmp'ed almost inaudibly.

" _ **OI!**_ What are you waiting for?"

They cringed before they jogged to catch up with their bossy leader.

* * *

"Hey, everyone," Yuna started as her steps slowed to a stop. Her comrades responded colorfully; Lightning and Kain inclined their heads, Vaan hummed, Laguna's was "yea?", and Tifa's was "yes, Yuna?". "What do you think that is?" She pointed toward Cosmos' throne. In the distance they could vaguely hear sounds of arguements.

Laguna squinted his eyes, his hand in a straight line on his brow. He could barely see anything... "Hmm..." he hummed, "I don't know, Yuna-chan, but—"

"It's the others," Lightning cut in, much to Laguna's chagrin, "and it's Cosmos' throne."

They exchanged looks behind her back at the latter piece of her statement before Kain asked, "What do you think happened?" His voice was betraying nothing of what he truly felt.

"I don't know," the pinkette answered, "but I intend to find out. Being this deep in the Sanctuary..." She shook the thoughts out of her head. "Let's go." As the others nodded their affirmative, they dashed as fast as they could toward Cosmos' throne, fearing the worst.

After all, they wouldn't last long once Cosmos fell...

* * *

As they neared Cosmos' throne in the middle of the Sanctuary, they noticed a commotion in which everyone had their weapons at the ready. It was even worse than they heard before; now they heard no loud arguments, but this is worse than that. As Cosmos was floating in the air, it looked like the rest of the warriors were about to betray Cosmos and attack her; they were in their battle stances, and seemed to prefer to stay away from the goddess. Alarmed, even as they dashed, they prepared their respective weapons.

"What's the meaning of this?" Lightning thundered (no pun intended), her hand gripping her gunblade.

The rest of the warriors turned to her, the tension visible. Some were even looked they had almost pounced to attack her. In answer of her demand, they parted slightly, letting the newcomers to see something was on the ground before Cosmos' throne. Looked like a black, white and yellow lump...

Was it... _breathing_?

"What is it, Light?" Laguna asked even as he brandished his gun, following her lead, Kain at his tail.

"When we came here, he was already there," WoL (the Warrior of Light, henceforth dubbed as "WoL" or "Lux" for the sake simplicity) explained, answering Laguna's question. Lightning cautiously approached the form, dimly aware of how Cosmos didn't even look threatened. That was odd. "Some of us seemed to know him," WoL continued.

"Who?" Kain asked, glancing at WoL.

WoL nodded at someone in the group of warriors around them. After a brief shuffle, Squall Leonhart came forth, his gunblade resting at his shoulder. His brows were scrunched in a scowl, grey eyes storming.

"Squall claimed to have met him before."

Squall's scowl deepened, if that was even possible. "I fought him as I was following Laguna—"

Laguna scratched the back of his head. "Really?"

Squall's eyebrow twitched. "—before Laguna was behind me, and seemed to be confused when I told him that I was following him."

WoL and Lightning turned to him, silently demanding an explanation, much to his dismay. "Hey! I was behind Squall here," he objected, both hands raised in a placating gesture. Not that it helped because he still had his gun in hand. "I was never in front of him! Perhaps he was dreaming or something." Eyebrows were raised in disbelief. Laguna realized that it was more likely that Laguna himself was dreaming ( _'or something'_ ) than it is to get Zidane and Bartz ambushed (which was rather easy...).

"Laguna, are you sure you were behind Squall the whole time?" Yuna asked as she, Vaan, and Tifa finally managed to get to the front.

Laguna nodded his head vigorously. "You gotta believe me, Yuna-chan!" There was a hint of whine there.

"Hold on." Lightning leaned herself slightly forward, trying to look at the face of the crumpled form. "I think I've met him before." Her eyes widened a fraction as the memory of the fight came back to her. "It was him!" she yelled, directing the next part to WoL. "The one we fought with the other Chaos warrior."

WoL nodded. "I felt like I've seen him before, too. Apparently, I was right." WoL noticed something on the corner of his eye and said, "Tifa, you seem familiar with this Chaos warrior."

Tifa bowed her head. "Yes... I... He saved me." Warriors of Cosmos blinked in near unison. "I was cornered by another Chaos warrior before he came and fought him off before he could finish me off. I thought he was one of Cosmos because of that," she explained.

Laguna and Vaan stared at one another, their disbelief etched to their faces. It was unheard of that a warrior of Chaos would help a warrior of Cosmos. They were, like, nemesis or something.

Kain stared at Tifa's back, folding his arms and stabbing his lance to the ground. "..."

Lightning sneered. "What is he doing here?! Who let him in the Sanctuary?!"

"It is I," a soft, feminine voice they knew well said. Lightning looked conflicted as they heard Cosmos spoke for the first time since their arrival to the unusual scene. "It was I who brought this warrior here."

"Why?" Lightning asked lowly, her eyes narrowed. WoL stood beside her, the hand holding his sword tightened. It was no secret that Lightning didn't actually believe in Cosmos.

Cosmos looked at her in the eye. "He took on Chaos, all by himself." Lightning was incredulous, an expression shared by many of their ranks. He was a warrior of CHAOS. "After he lost, he begged to me to save a friend of his. Even as he was on the verge of disappearing. I could not deny him, and I took him here from the Edge of Madness."

"Who?" Yuna asked tentatively, curious but fearing Lightning's wrath. She had to hold back her wince when Lightning glared at her. But she had to know.

Cosmos closed her eyes. Somehow the gesture seemed like it was out of pain or sadness. "The last word he breathed out was ' ** _Tifa_** '."

* * *

Tifa Lockhart felt like she was struck by a lightning. She felt burning and curious eyes falling on her. She felt her eyes widened at Cosmos' revelation of the warrior.

It made sense now. Why he fought his own ally over her. Why he told the other warrior to stop when he nearly stabbed her neck, and promptly battled his silver-haired comrade. Why he urged her to leave, refusing to fight or even look at her. It all made sense. Tifa was confused by his reasoning when he basically said that he saved her, an enemy, from his own ally on a _whim_. Truth was, it was because she was his friend.

And she didn't even _know_ it.

At least now she knew why she felt like she knew him.

By the time her brain had registered the shocking information, she was barely able to whisper, "What?"

WoL stared at her contemplatively. "You knew him." It wasn't a question.

Tifa bowed her head. "I don't know. I _feel_ like I know him, but I don't _remember_ him. Perhaps we came from the same world..." She clenched her fists.

Lightning stared at her, glancing at the body through the corner of her eye to see a barely seen twitch. She exchanged a quick look with Squall, which he returned with a nod. He saw it, too. She wondered...

Without saying anything, she quickly brought out her own gunblade with incredible speed, much like her namesake. And before anyone had any chance to react, Lightning was already swinging the blade to Tifa's throat. As she swung it, Lightning could hear alarmed yells and shouts of her fellow warriors. She hoped Squall would be able to explain... Tifa was barely able to react; she was only able to close her eyes, her hands automatically rose to shield her despite the futility of the action. awaiting the killing blow.

It never came.

* * *

If one asked a warrior of Cosmos later, whether or not it was a victorious glint that was in _Lightning_ 's and _Squall_ 's eyes that day, they'd most likely say ' _ **yes**_ '.

Tifa clenched her eyes shut, awaiting pain. But it never came. All she heard in the silence was the sound of metal hitting metal, a grunt and various gasps with Squall's voice in the background. She couldn't understand what she was saying.

"I _knew_ it," Lightning said. "It _IS_ her, isn't it? Your friend."

Unable to hold back her curiosity any longer, Tifa slowly opened her eyes. She gasped at the scene before her.

Lightning was no longer anywhere near her. Her gunblade was still held in her hand as she used the other hand to prevent herself from falling forward after skidding. Before them, stood the warrior of Chaos, whom they assumed was unconscious, holding that monstrous blade of his (Yuna dimly thought how it was much like Sir Jecht's in size) in shaking hands. He panted with the sudden exertion he forced into his battered body, gritting his teeth as he slipped into his battle stance, blood dripping from his wounds to the ground in soft _pitter patter_. Both sides knew he wasn't going to last long, but he didn't look like he wanted to go down without a fight.

"Stand down," WoL ordered her, using his sword to separate the two warriors. In the background, Squall had just finished explaining for the umpteenth time that Lightning wasn't about to kill Tifa, that she wasn't about to betray them and she was only testing the Chaos' warrior.

Lightning obeyed, only because it _WAS_ Cosmos who brought him there. She might not trust the goddess much, but as long as Cosmos knew what she was doing, she would tolerate it. However, she didn't sheath nor dismiss her gunblade. The warrior of Chaos let his eyes wander, still not relaxing whatsoever, his eyes calculating despite the pain he obviously experienced. He seemed to be ignoring both Cosmos and Tifa behind him.

Like they weren't going to stab him in the back...

It seemed like forever that they were like that before Cosmos shifted, drawing their attention, even the Chaos' warrior's. "Please, warrior. I may have healed your most grievous wounds, but you're far from recovered," Cosmos implored, showing a side that her own warriors weren't used to. Who _WAS_ he?

The Chaos' warrior's eyes glowed ice blue, peering at the goddess behind him through his spiky bangs of blond hair as he eased out of his stance with a hissed breath, and forced his blade tip-first to the ground to use as a crutch.

"Why?" he breathed. A single word with so much emotion that it was enough to convey all its hidden meaning; _'why did you save me?'_ , _'why did you bring me here? Am I not one of Chaos'?'_

Cosmos closed her eyes. Her expression turning pained and sad, something her warriors hadn't see before. "Because of the strength of your will." _'Because the war has gone on for too long. And it's time to end it.'_ She tilted her head sideways, and asked back, "Why?" _'Why fight your fate to fight?'_ , _'why save your enemy?'_ , _'why do you attack Chaos even when it's a lose-lose situation? You know you'll fade even if you defeat him.'_

The warrior sighed, his blonde bangs hiding most of his closed eyes as he stared to the ground. "Because I have too." _'Because I'll lose her...'_

"Cloud..." a familiar voice, so familiar that it hurt him, whispered from behind him as a pair of gloved hand caressed his bare right shoulder.

"Tifa..." he breathed, pain lacing his voice. Cosmos clenched her eyes shut, reminded of how he _breathed_ that very same word the exact same way before she whisked him away from Chaos' throne. Whether if his pain was physical or psychological, the warriors of Cosmos would never know.

Because it was then that the warrior of Chaos known as Cloud slumped as he lost consciousness.

* * *

Chaos tapped his clawed finger to his hand. "Hmm... Who would have thought that you would save a dying warrior of mine, Cosmos?" he rumbled. "Are you that desperate, that you took him away right before my very eyes?" Chaos' throat rumbled as he contemplated the unforeseen change.

At the bottom of the stairs to the Edge of Madness, Garland was thinking on what to do now that one of them, who turned out to be a traitor, was amongst Cosmos' ranks, perhaps feeding them intel of their newest weapon. "No matter," he said aloud. "He'll just have to be eliminated."

On Garland's and Chaos' blind spot, Golbez and Kuja eavesdropped on Chaos' and his musings.

* * *

 **I'm back! Phew... I finally have the time to publish this one. Well, at least I know why some authors said that school or university is a #$%... On the bright side, while my second term is about to begin, I'm still having holiday (well, for about a week or two more), so I should be able to publish the rest of this thing.  
**

 **Anyway, if you have read my earlier stories, do tell me if my writing has improved or has gotten worse; I really can't tell.  
**

 **Considering how busy I'm going to be, I think I'll stick to one-shots after this story. (I spent _2 WEEKS of holiday_ finishing a one-shot. _ONE!_ )**

 **See ya later,**

 **C. Rinkuki Takato**

* * *

 **EDITED on January 28th, 2016**


	3. III: Forbidden Secrets

Author note at the bottom.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: All materials belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing around in their sandbox while feeling happy that I don't have to think of the next canon plot whatsoever.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Forbidden Secrets**

* * *

Before Tifa even knew what she was doing, she was already reaching for the slumping Chaos' warrior. When she was nearly toppled from the unexpected weight did her brain register her action. Tifa felt rather than saw those eyes on her. Even she had to admit that even she was surprised. After all, who would reach their hand to stop an enemy from falling over without thinking whatsoever?

"Cosmos." Lightning started, "mind explaining why a Chaos' minion is among us, in the Sanctuary?"

The goddess of harmony tilted her head sideways. She was contemplating her answer on the matter. She blinked her eyes slowly.

"Don't even _THINK_ about lying," the pinkette growled out. "I'm tired of this war, and I'm sure the others are, too. We're only looking for a way to stop the fighting and _go home_. So far, we haven't been able to." She crossed her arms, a gesture that was usually used by the Dragoon of the group. "Spill. Now!"

"Lightning," WoL started, about to defense their goddess, when Cosmos herself shook her head. "But, Cosmos—!"

The blonde goddess shook her head once more. "She is right. This cycles of conflict has gone for long enough; even now, this cycle is the _twelfth_."

"What?" Squall exclaimed, disbelief turning his voice low and sharp.

"The only way for you to go home is..." She took a deep breath with her eyes closed, gathering her courage she gained from her older (former) warriors. She hoped she was doing the right thing _NOW_ ; she knew she had condemned a **_LOT_ ** of warriors in this endless cycle of conflict. There would be more, if she didn't end it, as much as it pained her to... "To defeat Chaos, the god of discord."

"Defeat Chaos?" Onion Knight (henceforth dubbed "OK") asked. "But, if someone more experienced than us couldn't even defeat him, what are our chances?"

There were murmurs of agreement.

Cosmos didn't even bat an eye. She knew that her young warrior would ask the question. She had expected it; he was one who used logic in almost if not all of his actions. She gathered her powers and sent it out to her warriors. As the light flew from her palms, swirling around each of them, there were murmurs of awe. "I have imbued you with the power you would need in order to defeat the god of discord," she answered.

"So... How do we use it? Like a summonstone?" Laguna asked, shrugging as he watched the last of the light disappearing.

Cosmos shook her disagreement. "No. The power will be tempered through battles you fought, until it eventually manifests into crystals. Those crystals would give you the power to defeat Chaos himself."

"In other words, fight Chaos' cronies, find your crystal, defeat Chaos, we win and then, we will go home?" OK summarized.

"Sounds simple enough," Bartz piped up, nodding.

As they all planned, no one noticed the shared look between WoL and Kain, and Cosmos' pensive expression.

* * *

They were all who were left in the Order's Sanctuary. Actually, they were hoping to get their crystals as soon as possible, however, WoL insistence that they brought along the Chaos' warrior, Cloud, with them, made them a _lot_ slower.

Well, more like not moving at all, considering their newest... _teammate_ was still unconscious at the moment.

Lightning was the most pissed off. Even if she _tried_ to hide it, even the _dumbest_ among them could tell immediately that she was emitting waves of displeasure. It was even more apparent with her crossed arms, pursed lips, and furrowed brows. She didn't like the Chaos' warrior in the first place, so it wasn't that much of wonder that she was glaring at WoL as he decided that. And after WoL left promptly, she had diverted her glare toward the only other party responsible for the bad mood. If looks could kill, Cloud would have been dead by a couple of times by then.

She was so absorbed in her brooding moments that she had missed a twitch of his lip.

"You could just leave me, you know?" a low, soft voice muttered.

Lightning started, nearly reaching for her weapon when Cloud used his sword to help him stand, grunting with the effort of forcing the massive sword upright before using it as a leverage. Lightning flexed the fingers of her main hand as she kept her eyes on him, a breadth away from summoning her trusty gunblade into her hand.

The blonde hmph-ed, as if saying "you need not bother", as he dismissed his weapon into the nether-slash-pocket dimension where all of their items go until they were summoned.

Lightning's glare intensified. Cloud's mako eyes stared back at hers unflinchingly with such emptiness and tiredness that Lightning had to fight from flinching away. And she thought _she_ was old...

But this? This warrior was **_WAY_ ** older than her. And he had seen more horrors than her, too, as much as she _hated_ to admit it, even internally.

"So..." Laguna started, scratching his nape, "I guess I should thank you for saving our friend here," he gestured toward Tifa's general direction, not daring to take his eyes off of them. "But don't worry; I'll make sure to save her next time." He grinned cheekily, attempting to ease the growing tension.

Tifa punched his shoulder playfully, following his lead. "It was _you_ who needed saving last time, wasn't it?"

Cloud couldn't help himself; he snorted.

"What's funny?" Lightning snapped.

"Aww, Light. Don't be such a spoil-sport," Laguna whined. There went his efforts. Poor Laguna...

Lightning glared. Ouch. _Double_ Ouch.

Kain snorted. "You shouldn't be so uptight, Lightning. You'll waste energy by much. And you're deflating Laguna."

"Who asked you?"

Cloud hummed. If they were always like this, perhaps it was worth the effort... Like precious things you wanted to protect from being destroyed in a war. He nodded to himself. He would share it; it was the least he could do. "I guess I have to thank you for sparing me," Cloud muttered, his smooth voice carried over to their ears. "But you need not bother babysitting me." He grimaced as his neck popped loudly. That wasn't fun.

Vaan raised a skeptical eyebrow. " _Really?_ You were injured, and quite badly, too, you know." He crossed his arms across his chest. "And even if Cosmos healed you, I don't think you've completely recovered yet."

"Here." Cloud blinked as he saw a potion was held before his sight by a slim hand. Following the hand to the person, he blinked again when he saw Yuna's mismatched eyes staring back at his mako-tainted ones with such gentleness one would reserve for a dear friend. He raised an eyebrow, questioning her wordlessly. Yuna smiled fondly as she threw the contents over him without even asking him, letting the potion heal the rest of his wounds, rejuvenating him.

"Either you're very daring or very foolish," Cloud stated as he felt his wounds knitting themselves closed, and his strength returning. "I could've attacked you after that." He shrugged carelessly.

Lightning wasn't the only one tensing; _Laguna_ was, too.

Yuna closed her blue and green eyes, sighing softly through her nose. "It's a thank you for saving Tifa. And, you did battle your own comrade." She opened her eyes again, and placed her hands on her chest.

Cloud felt a twinge of pain as he saw Yuna's figure being replaced by hers. The flower girl... _Aerith_ 's... _Zack_ 's love... Right before she died, _killed_ , right before his eyes as he stood before her... Watching, as the long blade of the Masamune ran her through, coating the blade crimson with her blood. Even their smiles were so similar...

Cloud clenched his teeth and fists. He could not bear it any longer and looked away.

Yuna saw it, and decided not to ask. If it hurt him to even look at her, chances were, he would clamp up the second the question left her mouth. She dropped her hands to her sides, not wanting to see such a hurt on his face again. It was deep... "Despite being affiliated with Chaos," the young summoner continued, "I don't sense the malicious feeling I get from other Chaos' warriors. If the fight between you and Chaos isn't the proof, I don't think anything else could have convinced me."

Lightning stared disbelievingly at the summoner's words. "Yuna..."

Kain nodded thoughtfully. "She may be young, Lightning. But she has good instincts; they're almost always right." Yuna blushed faintly at Kain's compliment.

Cloud stared at her. "..." He shook his head ruefully. "If Cosmos' side are always like this, I guess I can see why they want to this, too..."

"'They'?" Lightning inquired, too curious to let her animosity toward the opposing side to stop her from asking. She still had to hold it back obviously.

The spiky blonde nodded. "I saw the signs in Kuja's and Golbez's behaviour lately. Kuja has been avoiding the fight for almost as long as I have. Golbez still participates sometimes, though he never dealt a killing blow." He snorted, shrugging. "Much to their annoyance. Especially Kefka."

Lightning crossed her arms. "Sounds more like he's bored," she rebuked.

Cloud shook his head. "He has to; the Emperor was suspicious of him already." Cloud shrugged. "I don't know if he's _still_ suspicious; I haven't gone to the meetings any more. They pestered me to fight again. Threatened me even." His eyes darkened as he muttered, "and sicked Sephiroth at me."

"So, two less we have to fight." Laguna pumped his fist. "Think this will make things easier?" he grinned.

Vaan crossed his arms behind his head. "Who knows?" he mused, not raising to the bait.

"No." The two blinked at the sharp denial the traitor Chaos' warrior. "In fact, this cycle will be one of the hardest so far."

"Huh? Aren't there less two more to fight?" Laguna asked.

Cloud turned his head, as if ashamed of something. "That's not it. We found something we could use.

"Deep in the Land of Discord, even deeper than Chaos' throne, there's a place called the "Door to the Rift." Through this door, mindless creatures called the 'manikins' came. They look like warriors, both Cosmos' and Chaos', and even have similar combat capabilities. For how much, I wouldn't know. I haven't actually see them fight. I don't know how they came to be either; we _don't_ create them. Not that's going to be a problem; they flow out like _endless_ _waves_ through the Door. All I know is, they obey those on Chaos' side, and they would only fight those of Cosmos'.

"They fight to the death; you have to destroy them or they _WILL_ kill you. There is no other choices. But it's an inevitable demise for you; they are without number, and _will_ keep coming from the Door to the Rift. Sooner or later, even if there were no warriors of Chaos, they _would_ overrun you."

Laguna gulped audibly.

"Then, why fight?" Lightning whispered bitterly.

Cloud looked at her. Let her hate him; this was something he _HAD_ to do. "There's still a way," he assured her. "Travel to the Land of Discord. Force the Door to the Rift to close, and the flow of manikins would recede. However, even that is _still_ suicidal, even to a warrior summoned by Chaos like me; you still have to fight the existing manikins, after all."

Kain crossed his arms. "That's an awful lot of information you're giving us."

"How do we know you're not trapping us?" Lightning finished.

Cloud merely shrugged and answered simply, "You _don't_." He turned. "That's all I know. I'm going. Do what you want. And thanks for letting me live."

The six warriors of Cosmos' stared as he walked off, disappearing into the distance.

* * *

Kain felt his lance vibrate violently in his grip as its tip was met with the side of the Buster Sword. He gritted his teeth. This was the third time the blonde had interrupted him. If this was to continue, then...

"What are you doing, Kain?" Zidane demanded, even as he reluctantly summoned his two swords, shifting to a more defensive than offensive stance. The genome didn't want to fight his comrade, but if that was what he had to do in order to understand why, he would.

Kain did not answer. It was best to let his teammates to assume that he had betrayed them.

"Jitan, was it?" Cloud asked absently, not even turning his attention from Kain even as Zidane corrected him. "Go back to the Sanctuary. Gather the others if you meet them on the way. Only stop if it's absolutely necessary." He pushed his sword, forcing Kain to disengage as he skidded. "I'll explain later."

Zidane stared for a second before nodding, trusting the other blonde. He hadn't backstabbed him, unlike Kuja... His heart clenched as he thought of the other genome. _Why_ had he done it? They were getting along so well, too... However, _now_ wasn't the time for that. He shook himself out of the thought before dashing away, throwing one last look through his shoulder at the two before he ran as fast as he could.

"What are you _doing_? What are you trying to accomplish?" Kain demanded as Zidane was out of earshot. He stabbed his lance in frustration.

"I could have asked you the same thing," the blonde swordsman shot back. The dragoon merely gritted his teeth and let a " _che_ " went through his teeth. Cloud eyed him. Kain had removed his lance from the ground, his grip tight. His lips pursed, and Cloud would bet _all_ of his KP that his eyebrows were furrowed underneath that helmet of his.

 _Wait a sec..._

His mako eyes widened as the realization hit him like tons of concrete.

"You _knew_ ," Cloud whispered. "You **_knew_ ** about the manikins. And you **_knew_ ** that all of you are going to perish if you don't do something." That the dragoon had said nothing had been more than enough confirmation. "So what? Thought you could decide for them?"

" _ **No!**_ " Kain denied. "It was for the best! That way, they would have _survived_. They would have _more time_ to get their crystals. They would stand _a chance_ against Chaos."

"Then _what_?" Cloud demanded. "Even if you force them to sleep, to survive into the next cycle in the hopes that they would have more time to defeat Chaos, those manikins aren't gonna stop coming!" Cloud gritted his teeth as he stomped over to Kain. "What's worse, they would have lost a comrade, and not know it."

Kain sighed in defeat. He dismissed his lance. "What am I supposed to do then?"

Cloud hefted the Buster Sword to his shoulder. "I told you, didn't I?" He turned. "Let's mosey."

Kain leaned back on his feet, crossing his arms. "To where?"

Cloud looked at him through his shoulder. "The Order's Sanctuary. We're going back. I still have a promise I have to fulfill. After that,

"I'm closing the Door to the Rift, with or without you. And the rest of you will stay with Cosmos."

* * *

Garland _growled_ in anger. That foolish _pawn_! How _dare_ he! It didn't matter if he had only fed them their intel; they could turn him into something that was hunted by both sides, after all. No, it wasn't that. Their plan was doing _great_ , before Cloud of Darkness (henceforth dubbed "CoD") went and spilled their intel on a warrior of Cosmos and confirmed the traitor's intel. Damn that being! Now they had no chance of forcing that traitor to separate. That, and he kept Cosmos' number from decreasing from a desperate attempt to survive by two of their own. Now the plan was _ruined_! A quick, absolute victory snagged away by one whom they had underestimated!

Garland growled again, his clawed hands clenching. Could it get _any_ worse?!

"No need to get all riled up," an arrogant voice stated from behind him.

The Emperor. _Great_. Now he jinxed himself.

"What do you want?" Garland demanded. Oh, Chaos... The last thing he needed was for that arrogant prat to gloat that he was better than Garland, who was Chaos' own right-hand man, and that he deserved to rule the world.

Yep. The _very_ last thing he needed right now.

The Emperor chuckled. "What do I want?" He grinned maliciously as Ultimecia, and Kefka teleported themselves to his side. Sometimes it still fascinated Garland on how the Emperor was able to recruit those two into his plans... What _DID_ he do? "What I want is the death of the traitor **_AND_ ** the defeat of Cosmos' warriors." If it was possible, his toothy, evil grin widened.

"And I know just the way to kill _TWO_ birds with _ONE_ stone."

Garland smirked underneath his horned helmet. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as he thought. Well, if it was good, perhaps he would... _humour_ them.

* * *

 **Yes, the "Jitan" was intentional; it's how I heard Zidane's name in Japanese dub (I play the Asian version of the game).  
**

 **Alright, only a few more chapters to go... I actually intended my unofficial beta to read and throw in her opinion first, but with our schedules, it's out of the question, so yeah. I asked her to read that one-shot instead. It's around 10k words (including notes at the bottom), and not another _Dissidia_ fanfiction, unfortunately. I'll try to write stuff of 012 whenever I have the drive, though. Even if they're only one-shots.**

 **I _have_ to say, SE does seem to like tragic, heartbreaking, tearjerking endings, doesn't it? (damn you, Square; you make me cry, _again)_ The soundtracks certainly _does not_ help. Oh well, I guess that's what the happy ends a _lot_ better, yea?**

 **See ya later,**

 **C. Rinkuki Takato**


	4. IV: To The Door

Author note at the bottom.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: All materials belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing around in their sandbox while feeling happy that I don't have to think of the next canon plot whatsoever.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: To The Door**

* * *

The dragoon and the warrior. The lancer and the swordsman. A warrior of Cosmos and a warrior of Chaos. Both on opposing sides. Who would have thought that the two could walk side by side in peace, relaxed. Not even one of them drew a weapon against the other during their journey together. Yes, such thing was unheard of. Then again, there _was_ no Chaos warrior who would feed their enemy with their own intel, intent on causing the loss of their own side. Cloud scoffed softly at that thought. Wouldn't be long now, until the curiosity of his (temporary) companion would blow, and he would start to ask questions. It was fine; he had already expected it.

Sure enough, as if that thought itself was the cue, Kain inclined his helmeted head in his direction. "What prompted you to help us, the warriors of Cosmos?"

Cloud raised an eyebrow, as if asking "are you asking me _THAT_?". Kain didn't look away from him, though he had to keep an eye on his way through the corner of his eyes. Wouldn't want to suddenly stumble from a stray pebble. _That_ would be an a _bsolute embarrassment_. A silence descended upon them.

Kain sighed. Figured it was already pushing his luck. He was berating himself for letting his curiosity get the better of him that they would lose a potential helper from the other side when Cloud finally answered him, "I've told you before. That, and they wouldn't just accept me back, anyway, so _unforgiving_ they are to traitors."

The dragoon snorted. "Then they," he indicated the direction of the Sanctuary, "wouldn't accept me back either."

Cloud laughed. "You Cosmos lots are more forgiving than those on Chaos'; I remember Kefka taking control another of _our own_ just to satisfy his thirst for," here Cloud smirked, "Chaos." Kain stared at him, unsure whether or not the warrior was serious. _Did that blonde just..._ "Pun intended." He shrugged casually.

Yep. _He did._

Kain smirked as he returned his eyes on the road. Yep. Cloud, a warrior of _Chaos_ , had just _joked_ in his presence, a warrior of _Cosmos_. Looked like they're going to get along well...

* * *

WoL would never thought that it would come to _this_. And by ' _this_ ', he meant being pointed at by various weaponry of his own comrades. Then again, they would do that if he just suddenly raised his shield and had been nearly successful in bashing the head of one of his comrade, Zidane. The thief's luck seemed to allow him to move, rolling at the last second away from his shield. WoL smiled wryly. And that very luck seemed to have doomed him...

"This is bad," Zidane whispered, summoning his weapon. " _You_ too?!"

WoL furrowed his eyebrows. ' _Too_ '? It sounded like Kain had failed to subdue him. They had _promised_ one another. They would do _anything_ it takes to force them into a sleep long enough to survive into the next cycle. It was such a sound plan, and they were _prepared_ , both for their own demise, and being remembered as traitors. Or not at all. _No one_ , other than them, even knew of this.

And with his _and_ Kain's failure, _all_ of them are now doomed to perish in this cycle.

"Did that warrior of Chaos trick you? " Squall demanded, resting his gunblade on his shoulder, tapping it once in a while on his shoulder, ready to spring at any second.

Zidane shook his head. "Nu-uh. That same 'warrior of Chaos' was the one who _saved_ me, too, you know." Squall's eyebrows flew to his hairline. Zidane raised his eyebrows in reply. "What? Kain was attacking me!" he replied indignantly.

Squall scowled. That was it. It explained why Zidane said 'you too' at WoL. Looked like they gained an ally _and_ lost _two_ in the process. _What a pain._

Speaking about that other traitor, Bartz exclaimed, "There they are!" Everyone, including WoL, looked at the direction his finger was pointing. In the distance, they could see a pair of speckles approaching the Sanctuary. Murmurs rose around Bartz. Some questioning, some condemning. Squall could care less; he wanted answers, and he wanted them _ten minutes ago_. In his impatience, he tapped the flat of his gunblade on his shoulder even more frequent and harder. He was dimly aware on Tifa tightening her combat gloves, and Lightning shifting to partial combat stance, her gunblade remained sheathed as her gloved hands flexed on her sides before she folded them when she seemed to be too high strung for them to remain _still_.

WoL sighed in resignation, and he lowered his sword, and relaxed his hold on his shield. It would be of no use _now_. Perhaps Kain would enlighten him. Or they could discuss on what to do now their plan had failed. If he wasn't THE Warrior of Light, he _would_ have pulled at his hair in frustration. _Where_ did it all go wrong?

It was rather surprising for them that Cloud and Kain were already on friendly terms. Sure, both didn't say that out loud, but their stances told them all they needed to know; _something_ happened on their way here, and _now_ , they were all _BFFs,_ when they were _enemies_ several moments ago.

When the warrior and the dragoon were within earshot, they were greeted by an "about time," from an impatient Lightning. Kain sighed. She sounded she was all too ready to snap, and her posture was showing it; she crossed her arms, and she was rigid. Despite her crossed arms, he could tell that she could uncross them in a blink of an eye, and summon her gunblade to fight. If the guilty look he saw from the corners of his vision was any indication, WoL tried to subdue them. _Again_.

 _Great_. Oh well, couldn't blame him.

Kain sighed. This was going to be a _LOT_ harder. He felt a hand squeezing his shoulder gently in silent support. His lips twitched in amusement. Cloud had been doing that a lot lately. Offering silent support, that was. There were times when Kain was wondering what would it be if Cloud was one of Cosmos instead of being one of Chaos...

Then again, he wouldn't be as experienced, would he?

The dragoon, with the silent support from the warrior, took a deep breath before he began, "There are things we kept from you."

* * *

"So we're doomed then?" Zidane murmured. Other heads were held dejectedly, much like his own. What was the point of fighting when it was only _prolonging_ your _suffering_ before you were going to _die_ _either way_? The silent goddess of harmony said nothing. She hadn't spoken any words ever since their last gathering. A silent audience. Some had even forgotten that she was there. At all.

Kain shook his head. "Not quite." Several heads perked up with renewed hope. Seeing those eyes sparking, desperately, for _some_ hope, Kain's heart clenched. He hoped he wouldn't disappoint. He glanced at Cloud, who was standing a little behind him. "He has a plan," he decided, unwilling to explain a plan that wasn't his own in a situation like this.

Cloud sighed. So be it. "You're not going to like this," he warned, directing it to the warriors of Cosmos.

Squall shrugged. "We're doomed anyway. Let's hear it."

The lone wolf eyed the proud lion skeptically. His eerily glowing mako eyes conveyed that they _REALLY_ weren't going to like it. The lion's stormy, steel grey eyes, unblinking, dared him not to tell his plan, and the wolf, seeing the battle was lost, submitted.

It had happened in the span of 10 seconds.

"I'm going to bring a couple of you— _volunteers only_ —to the Land of Discord to close the Door to the Rift, and stop the flow of manikins. The rest of you, will be staying _here_ , in the Sanctuary." He raised his hand to stop the growing protests. His glowing mako eyes flashed in warning. As they quieted down, he reminded, an eyebrow raised, "I _DID_ say that you're not going to like it, didn't I?" They begrudgingly went completely silent. "No doubt that the warriors of Chaos had foreseen that I would tell you about all this, and they would unleash _massive_ waves of manikins to the Sanctuary." The warriors of Cosmos felt a wave of unease went through their spines.

It intensified the second Cloud looked through them to Cosmos. His next words confirmed their fears mercilessly.

"After all, you'll all fade the second Cosmos falls."

They shuddered in unison as they silently agreed to his plan. As a warrior of Chaos himself, Cloud would at least had an _inkling_ on how his now-former comrades think. Oh, they _still_ weren't pleased with his plan, but if it would give them a chance of survival and fighting, they would take it.

Now, the matter on those who would go with him...

Cloud crossed his arms. He continued, "I wouldn't lie; this plan is _suicidal_ , to both the attacking and defending party.

"For the attacking party, they're going deep into enemy territory. Mind you, the other warriors wouldn't just sit back as we journeyed to the Door to the Rift; most likely, they would try to at least hinder us. As such, we would have no other choice but to fight. Depending on how the fight progresses, we would either be still strong enough to close the Door, or we would perish because of the fresh wave of manikins directly coming from the Door. Either way, even if we couldn't defeat all of those manikins, we have to close the Door, or it would be all for nothing.

"For the defending party, chances are, the waves of manikins will be _real_ massive. There's a chance that you wouldn't survive the assault; they would've sent waves capable of felling the _goddess_ of harmony herself. You _have_ to protect your goddess; remember that once she falls, it won't be long until it's your turn to disappear."

Cloud shrugged nonchalantly, like he wasn't just finished telling the worst news they've ever heard there was. It slightly unnerved them. "Your choice. Either way, I'm still going, and I'm going soon. Can't wait too long; the journey _IS_ long, after all," he finished.

The warriors of Cosmos exchanged looks, before Lightning nodded resolutely and stepped forward to him along with Laguna, Kain, Tifa, Vaan, and Yuna.

"We're coming with you," she declared. "The rest of us will stay at the Sanctuary to protect Cosmos."

Cloud nodded in satisfaction. It _was_ quick, and he was pleased from their cooperation and lack of time-wasting. He turned around and walked off. "Let's mosey."

The six stared at his back, thinking a single thought in unison,

 _'What the heck?!'_

* * *

"So CoD told you?" the former warrior of Chaos asked as they came out of the Forgotten Trail gateway. They hadn't had the time to clear all gateways they saw, so they only cleared those out of necessity.

Laguna nodded eagerly with a wide grin on his face. "Yup. See? I could charm our _enemy_ into giving us something!" He sighed dreamily. "She sure is pretty... It's a pity she's the enemy..."

"It," Cloud countered, much to his confusion. He let a tiny smirk twitch at the corner of his lips. He asked for it. "Cloud of Darkness is an 'it', not a 'she.' I heard from both Golbez and the Emperor. While the latter tends to be a pain, he tends to say something true."

Laguna spontaneously gagged, eyes wide, sputtering incoherently. Kain snorted in amusement. Tifa and Yuna both snickered under their breaths. The brawler then elbowed Laguna in the ribs, her elbow guard making him wince. "You can _absolutely_ charm our opponent."

Laguna flushed a furious red to the tip of his ears. "Is not my fault she— _IT_ looks like a pretty lady," he muttered, attempting to defend himself.

Various snorts of amusement and disbelief. _Yeah, right._

"C'mon, everyone... Is this make-fun-of-Laguna day?" he whined, throwing his hands up in exasperation. Lightning raised her eyebrow, translation: _are you kidding me?_

"Certainly sounds like it, isn't it?" Yuna replied. Laguna slumped in defeat. She patted his shoulder. Poor, poor Laguna. Sometimes he dug his _own_ grave. Like now. "How much further?" she asked, changing topics, much to Laguna's appreciation; he was practically throwing looks of 'thank you!' at her oblivious face; she wasn't even looking at him, _how_ would she know?

Cloud eyed the darkening sky. Despite its unnatural colours (red, pale blondish, and dark, moody blue), anyone could still tell the time of the day by looking at it. "We're still far. _This_ ," he gestured to the sea at both of their sides, "means we're in the Mirage Landsea. This place is the connecting land between the northern continent, where Edge of Madness—Chaos' throne—is, and the southern continent, where Order's Sanctuary is located."

"Wow, you sure know a lot," Tifa stated, looking around the narrow path they were taking. It sure was beautiful. Too bad this world was a battlefield...

Cloud looked away from her. It was better this way... "Yeah. I have a lot of time to explore." He looked up to the skies again, noting its further darkening colour. "Hurry; we don't want to spend the night here; we're sitting ducks."

"Hey, how long has it been since the first manikin?" Lightning asked, holding back her grudge against their former enemy for their mission's sake.

Cloud tilted his head thoughtfully. "Hmm... I don't know. The first time I saw them was in the gateways. It was surprising that they were already roaming the open world, and sometimes, staying in the gateways back then."

Lightning hummed as she processed the information given. It sounded like the manikins were not _completely_ directed by the forces of Chaos.

"These lands are seriously a bit tight..." Vaan commented; they could only fit three people at a time or risk falling into the sea.

Cloud snorted loudly. "The path around Chaos' throne, the Bahamut Isles, is worse. It's a bit steep around the edges, the ground's a bit bumpy, and it's very, very close to Chaos' throne that they would see us coming, long before we actually entered the Land of Discord. But we're not going there."

Kain blinked. "I thought we're going to stop the manikins."

Cloud nodded. "We are," he affirmed. "However, the path to Chaos' throne is to the left, while the path to the Door to the Rift is to the right."

Vaan crossed his arms behind his head and leaned his head against them. "You've been there before?"

The spiky blonde nodded, the larger blond spikes bobbing with the motion. Tifa found herself mesmerized by it. It was as if she saw it _before_... "Yeah. Saw those manikins coming out of it, too." They stopped before a gateway blocking their paths. Cloud peered at the red, malicious gateway before them, as if reading something only he could read.

"Is something wrong?" Lightning asked.

Cloud hummed. "This is the last gateway we'll cross today; the Eastern Mirage Gateway."

" _What?_ " Lightning asked in disbelief.

Cloud shrugged. "If you want to go ahead on your own, then I won't stop you. But the journey is still _far_ from over, and I don't want to die from exhaustion _before_ I could get to the Door." He turned his head away, closing his eyes and clenching his fists tightly. Tifa placed her hand on his shoulder tenderly. She felt his shoulder tense before it bled away from him. The second it did, however, he shook himself out, and said, "Either way, we still have to cross that gateway."

* * *

Tifa felt that she and Cloud were so distanced. Then again, though they were friends (or so Cloud said; she still hadn't remembered that part yet), they were on the opposing sides. So she could understand _that_. What she couldn't however, was the urge for her to get close to him. Like they were _actual_ friends. But with Cloud distancing himself, it made her attempts hard.

"Don't give up," Yuna whispered at her side. She blinked. Had she been _that_ obvious? Yuna smiled at her, her mismatched eyes sparkling. "He cares about you by a lot, Tifa. And he distanced himself in the hopes that he was _protecting_ you."

Tifa smiled at her friend. Good thing Yuna was with them, else she wouldn't know what she would do. When she voiced it, the summoner merely smiled together with her.

It made her feel like everything was going to be alright...

* * *

Lightning cursed herself inwardly as she panted from exertion. That blonde was right; they would be too tired to do anything but _die_ were they to continue. Either from walking _or_ battling their way through the gateways, she didn't know. She begrudgingly began to admit that they would have to follow his pace. She heard sighs of relief when they reached the Stigma of Chaos and came out of the gateway. Sounded like she wasn't the only one...

She blinked.

Before them was a vast desert like area.

Cloud walked pass her, and gestured to a cluster of grey stone-like formation. "I think they call this area Mirage Desert." He shook his head, as if saying 'what am I saying', before he continued, "We'll spend the night here. It's far too dangerous to continue." He then turned to her. "Still want to continue?" he challenged. Obviously he had heard her panting.

Lightning growled, but she didn't rise to the bait. By now, Cloud was the _only_ one not showing any signs of exhaustion. Of course, he could be hiding it, but he didn't break a sweat despite fighting most of the manikins they encountered. _Whatsoever._

Oh right. He _was_ older than them, cycle-wise.

She ignored his challenge. Instead, when she saw a couple of blue Garland manikins roaming around in the same desert, she inclined her head. "Are you sure this place is safe? Those look strong."

He nodded when he noticed what she was talking about. "They _are._ Stronger than any manikins you have encountered. But, they're the territorial type; they don't seek out enemies to kill, but they patrol a certain set of area, and only attack those who dared trespass it. And some of the very few manikins we could never control. Don't know why." He looked to her eyes. "We'll be fine as long as we stay out of their way." He looked through his shoulder at his journey-mates. "And you'd better; I'm spent already, and you would be hard-pressed to survive; it would take _all_ of you combined to defeat one of them."

Ah... So he just didn't show it, then.

All of them nodded; it was better to listen to the guide, after all. Cloud nodded in satisfaction. "I'll take the first watch; we're already in enemy territory not to."

Since the formation was bigger than they thought, and it was Colosseum-like, they set up the tents partially circling, backs to the wall, and entrance of the tents to the opening of the formation. They would create a small camp fire in the middle. Vaan had noticed that there were fish in the sea, and went with Kain to gather some fish for dinner. Yuna was looking for the nearest moogle to shop and restock their supplies as she had sworn she saw one a bit back. Cloud was perched near the opening like a hawk, sitting atop of the grey walls, ready to spring at a moment's notice, guarding their resting area. Lightning and Laguna (much to her dismay) scoured for firewood in the Eastern Mirage Gateway they had passed. It was fortunate that they were only required to battle through it _once,_ then they could easily come and go as they please, or even bypass it altogether.

Thus Tifa and Cloud were the only ones staying behind.

Tifa shuffled her feet awkwardly. Cloud twitched.

"Hey, Cloud," the martial artist started. When the swordsman made no indication that he minded, she continued, "Why are you distancing yourself from us? Is it because we were enemies, or...

"...is it because you were trying to protect me?"

Tifa could hear Cloud's breath _hitching._

* * *

Emperor grinned. Soon, they would be in their positions, and they would get rid of the traitor. Getting rid of traitors were one of his _favourite_ things to do, aside from scheming and playing with warriors of Cosmos. But, as he stroked his staff, it wasn't the best thing of this. Oh, _far_ from it.

They weren't going to do _anything,_ and those warriors of Cosmos will do _their_ dirty job for them before they slaughtered the unintentional pawns.

Oh yeah. He cackled. This was something he _couldn't_ wait...

* * *

 **Oh, yeah. I'm back, again. Just because this thing is essentially finished, doesn't mean I still have work to do with it; I typed it in Notepad, and thus I have to put in the line breaks, bold, italics, underlines, and alignments. Then there are the choices of words or typos here and there. Sure is a lot of work, but, hey, it's worth it. I just hope I don't let you readers down with this story (I've always felt my works are disappointments, no matter how good or bad those things are...)  
**

 **Real life is catching up on me, and that means disaster for my fics. I hope I would have finished publishing the entire thing before then, but don't get your hopes up.**

 **This thing was written when I was still smitten with Cloud, and now that I'm smitten with _Lightning_ , I feel like facepalming myself, or bashing my head on the nearest desk or wall. Oh well, she'll get her turn later on. I don't know if it'll be in _Dissidia_ or _XIII,_ though. Again, don't get your hopes up.**

 **Cheers,**

 **C. Rinkuki Takato**


	5. V: Traitor To All

Author note at the bottom.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: All materials belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing around in their sandbox while feeling happy that I don't have to think of the next canon plot whatsoever.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Traitor To All**

* * *

The second the question reached his ears, the phrase "oh, no" was the _only_ thing in his mind. How could it come to this? He had done all he could to keep her from finding out. He had thought that he had done a good one, too, if her actions in the previous gateway was any indication. Oh, why, why _now?_ Of all the times it could go wrong, why now? Why not _after_ they had closed the Door?

Cloud Strife clenched his gloved fists. He felt his eyes sting with the unshed tears.

He never knew what Tifa said any more. It was like the switch to his hearing was turned off. His mind, even when he was not a schemer like the Emperor, whirred to life. His eyes darted around unseeingly as the gears in his head turned, creating another plan now that the other was foiled. He vaguely felt a twinge of pained irony how Tifa kept breaching his logic. Maybe it was her nature to? The swordsman wouldn't know.

...Yeah, maybe _that_ would work? He wouldn't know if he didn't try, after all.

Plastering a look of utter boredom, a poker face worthy of the _Emperor himself,_ Cloud turned his head to look into Tifa's red eyes. He arched an eyebrow, as if asking her "really?" in disbelief. Tifa stared back at him unblinkingly, her blazing red eyes boring into his mako blue ones, searching him. He could feel himself being stripped bare with it. But even as cold sweat trickled down his back, the blonde held his unbelieving gaze upon the raven-head.

Red eyes blinked.

One blonde eyebrow twitched.

A raven head tilted.

Mako eyes blinked.

Body tilted forward.

A drop of sweat, well, _dropped._

Wind blew, long hair and spikes of hair swayed.

 _A cricket chirping._

Tifa ( _finally!_ ) sighed. She dropped her gaze. If she looked up that second, she would have noticed how Cloud kept blinking to ease the stinging in his eyes. No amount of mako would make the pain of unblinking-ness. "Never mind," the martial artist whispered, staring at the pale sand of the Mirage Dessert (or so he said) to avoid looking into his (eerily) glowing blue eyes.

The martial artist turned tail, and entered a tent.

The swordsman's shoulder sagged with relief.

His mind now made up, one Cloud Strife gazed resolutely into the horizon, awaiting the others' return. The second they all fell asleep, he would put it to motion...

Before that, seeing how Lightning and Laguna were coming out, it would be a good idea to prepare his fire magic. The campfire had to be ready so that they could cook, anyway.

* * *

Laguna hummed contentedly as he munched on the barbecue fish. Well, not _exactly_ BBQ, but it was as close as they could get; the second Yuna, Vaan, and Kain had returned, the fire was lit, and Lightning was preparing the sticks to stab the fish with. Luckily for them, Yuna was currently in good graces with the moogles, and had gotten them some seasoning, namely _SALT._

Hence why the fish was even tasty. Not five-star, but good enough.

As they were chatting through the campfire, the gunman noticed how Cloud was all silent and broody. He considered shifting closer to the swordsman Kain had seemed to get close to, but ultimately decided against it. He did nudge Kain's side with his elbow and motioned with eyes pointedly, though. Better to have the one he had at least got along with (AKA Kain) than someone he wasn't close to (like him).

He didn't want that oversized sword anywhere near his person. Nope, not at all.

* * *

Kain nudged his side subtly. It was a silent gesture of "we're going to talk". Of course, despite looking uncaring, Cloud had noticed the second Laguna moved his eyes to his general direction. Nevertheless, he barely shook his head.

He feared—no, he _KNEW—that_ the second he talked with him _or_ anyone, his resolve would _crumble._

As the others entered the tents to sleep, Cloud crept, listening to various sounds signifying their slumber. To avoid burdening them, he decided to bring nothing. He _still_ had a lot of KP and gil on his person; he could always buy supplies on his way. He was about to leave, when he remembered that they wouldn't know the way.

He glanced around. What could he use to write with such meager supplies he had? His eyes landed on a burnt wood, then on a slab of pale gray stone. Already the gears in his mind whirred.

Yes, that would work.

As dawn came, all that was left of him was a crudely drawn map on a slap of stone, and a pouch of gil and KP.

* * *

Lightning _growled_ as she slashed the last manikin those dastardly warriors of Chaos had summoned. Coupled with the fact that they had just fought those said warriors _and_ that Cloud had left them, had just made _THIS_ a lot harder. How _dare_ he left them! Lightning channeled her anger to cleave the manikin into two neat pieces. Ironically, the manikin she was fighting was that of said former Chaos' warrior, AKA an Imaginary Soldier manikin.

Oh, the _irony._

"Do you think he passed this way?" Vaan asked, dismissing his weapon. "They didn't even mention him."

Kain crossed his arms. "It is possible that they didn't even see him, let alone encounter him." He tossed a potion at Lightning's direction which she caught with a grateful nod. "Or they were trying to trap us."

Lightning resealed the bottle she had just used (she didn't spend all of it—it was much too precious to spend in one occassion), throwing it back at Kain before saying, "We have to keep going. With _or_ without him." She took out the map and examined it. She beckoned Kain to discuss their route. It was of no surprise; Kain was the most sound out of the rest of them.

As the two were discussing, Yuna noticed how silent Tifa was. She had been silent since last night. And now that Cloud was no longer among them, her gloomy mood was even more apparent. It was possible that she was like this before, but with Cloud's overshadowing hers, they wouldn't notice. But somehow, she doubted that.

Her mood had something to do with the blonde's departure. And she had enough. She nudged Tifa, and said, "Hey, it's not your fault. It was his choice to leave." She hoped she would be able to snap her out of it.

She was wrong; Tifa merely shook her head, and replied, "It _is_. If I didn't talk to him about it, he would be with us, and we would have arrived at the Door to The Rift." She sighed heavily. "I had never thought that I would slowing us down."

The summoner patted her shoulder. "As I said, you shouldn't be so hard on yourself. It was his choice; how do you know that he wasn't planning on going ahead of us in the first place?"

Tifa tilted her head as she rolled the idea around in her head. It _was_ possible. Her lips twitched to a smile. So, he wasn't _completely_ unaffected, was he? Even if it was her question which had triggered his departure, she couldn't have stopped him. That was the kind of person he was; once he made up his mind, he would do it, _no matter what_.

Tifa blinked. _How_ did she know _that...?_

* * *

A pair of blue eyes blinked as they took in the sight. A sea of crystals. Or to be precise, a sea of _manikin. This_ amount of manikin would be an _overkill_ to kill those six warriors of Cosmos. Sure, they might be able to cause their demise, but wasn't _this_ a bit much? Filling the _ENTIRE ARENA_ with manikins just for that. He sighed. This would make fighting a _LOT_ harder.

Orphan's Cradle arena, _crammed_ with manikins... _How nice_. There wasn't much ground here to begin with, and now that it was _so damn_ crowded, there was even less—if such thing was even possible. What were those crazy folks thinking, filling the arena with _this_ much manikins in the first place? Wouldn't they be of more use when they were sent to deal with Cosmos herself? He knew those six were quite powerful, even individually, but they were not as strong... as... _him_...

The realization clicked. They _knew_ he was coming. There was no other explanation.

He felt his lips twitch as he summoned his weapon, taking in the sight of the watching manikins, their limbs twitching and jerking like there were two conflicting instructions in their single, simple minds . He wouldn't be surprised at the internal conflict in the manikins; they weren't supposed to fight him, after all. The _master_ fighting the _weapon. Cliché._

Oh, well. Might as well thin them, he mused as his feet slid into position. He didn't have the time to dilly-dally.

After all, he had an _appointment_ he had to keep.

* * *

Tifa blinked as the memory fled her mind. Where did that come from? She was vaguely aware of how she was following her comrades, which was kinda odd considering she thought she had been spacing out for some time due to the memory she had just seen. Maybe she developed an "auto-pilot"?

...Nahh, couldn't be.

The brawler only had time to see their exit from the last gateway before the gateway to the Door to The Rift before another memory engulfed her vision.

* * *

He _knew_ it. He _was_ right. Even without much intelligence, like the Onion Knight, it wasn't hard to guess that it was the Emperor that was behind this. While it _was_ still possible for the others to came up with such plan, namely Kefka and Ultimecia, it had a _certain...thing_ that only the Emperor's plans had. He couldn't explain it either, should anyone ask. He just _KNEW._

He snorted as he downed his second-to-last potion. He didn't want to use it either, but he had to.

The battle had been quite...bloody, for the lack of better words. It was more condensed than he thought, and thus, he had to actually fight through them. Oh, he didn't destroy _ALL_ of them. That would be _suicide,_ even to someone like him. But he thinned them enough that even _LAGUNA_ alone would stand a chance.

He grimaced as he felt the last of his wounds knitted itself closed, thanks to the potion. Speaking of it, he had to conserve the last bottle he had if he wanted to last. He was definitely going to drink it before entering the Empyreal Paradox, where the Door was, though.

There was no point in _not_ using it, after all.

But first, he had a bone to pick with a certain someone...

* * *

Tifa gasped. She was both unfortunate and fortunate as they were out of the gateway, and thus (rather) safe from the enemy.

She was only able to take a gulp of air before another memory forced itself into her vision...

* * *

He felt his lips curling into a grin. Whether it was a maniacal grin or not, he wouldn't know. And he didn't give a damn.

Before him were Garland, Emperor, Ultimecia, and Kefka. Strangely enough, there were no manikin within sight. He did notice the open Door behind them, though. It wasn't a _door,_ actually; it looked more like a crack—a dimensional fissure, a dimensional rift on the ground. He knew they knew he knew he had to fight through them first to get to that.

"So, the _traitor_ has finally come," Emperor began.

He snorted. "Save your breath," he replied, summoning his oversized weapon. "Both of us know what's going to happen."

All he got in reply were Garland and Emperor drawing their weapons and Ultimecia and Kefka charging their magic.

He felt something stir inside him. Something akin to a second " _him_ ". He grinned, however, when he realized what it was. _His memories_. With _HIM._ The irony of the situation... He raised his sword, flat side facing both him and the enemies, the tip of the greatsword pointed to the sky, and placed the flat to his forehead reverently, as if praying, ignoring the looks his former comrades were giving him.

And, echoing the memory, he shouted,

 _"Irasshaimase!"_ (1)

The Buster Sword sung as it cleaved the air.

* * *

 **(1) "Come and get it!" (or "welcome", but that wouldn't fit here...): it's the same line spoken by Zack ( _Crisis Core_ ) on his final battle on the cliff overlooking Midgar. I wouldn't go into details here, but I'm telling you, it's definitely bloody _and_ heartbreaking. Look for the ones with Japanese audio for full experience. Really; English and Japanese voiceovers have different feel to them, and I'd suggest the Japanese ones, no matter which _Final Fantasy_ I'm talking about. _Before that_ , _DON'T_ complain about the voice acting. Really. I'm speaking from experience of at least 3 titles, and that one CGI movie.**

 **And so, I decided to publish _two_ chapters today. Just to ensure this baby's completed before I don't have time. Just so you know, there's only one chapter left, and the epilogue. Both aren't as long as their predecessors are, but I hope the ending satisfies you readers. The original ending of _012_ is just too damn...heartbreaking that I want to have _one_ happy ending out of it. Watching her fade away is _not_ pleasant. Especially when you can't play her in the next cycle. Damn it, Square; you're making me cry. _Again_ , I might add.  
**

 **Cheers (or not),**

 **C. Rinkuki Takato**


	6. VI: Unexpected Fulfillment

Author note at the bottom.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: All materials belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing around in their sandbox while feeling happy that I don't have to think of the next canon plot whatsoever.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Unexpected Fulfillment**

* * *

Tifa gasped as she was jerked violently out of the memory. What were those? Were those _HIS_ memories? But how could it be? Memories didn't just transfer from one person to another. There were _so_ many questions haunting her, yet she didn't know the answer to any of them. She clenched her teeth as she forced them down. There was no time to brood. She had to help her friends.

The brawler nodded resolutely. Yes, she would do that.

"Is it just me or the manikins we encountered just now weren't as unscathed as the previous ones?" Vaan piped up.

Laguna turned his head so fast that it was a wonder that he didn't get a whiplash. "Like they had fought something before, right?" At Vaan's nod, he continued, "You noticed, too?"

Vaan nodded, as did the others, much to each others' surprise. It was a _FACT,_ not a _FEELING._

Something, or rather _**SOMEONE** ,_ had come through there before them.

Tifa gasped as she recognized the damage on the arena. Not only they matched the other damages inflicted by the Buster Sword, but they also matched the location of...

* * *

He jumped high in the air, twirling his sword before stabbing it downward in the air before small meteors crashed (( _Meteorain_ )), destroying quite the amount of manikin. Not that was surprising; they were cramming, after all.

The manikins let out a guttural, hoarse battle cries.

As he landed, he twisted his blade in an almost-circular motion, drawing all manikins around him and slashing them. He slammed his blade downward of one of them ( _the closest; can't have it attack_ ), and circled the air, dragging his sword with him with blue energy coating the sword. He slashed outward as the last blow, scattering away the pieces (( _Finishing Touch_ )).

Twenty down. Who-knows-how-many-more to go.

 _...What a pain._

* * *

"He _was_ here," Tifa said in surprise, drawing attention. She turned, facing them in turn. "Cloud was here! He was the one who did this," she cheered. Even Lightning could tell that blazing flare of life returned into her eyes.

It was the first time that Lightning decided to _not_ question her.

Kain hummed thoughtfully. "Let's go. According to the map, this is the last gateway we had to go through; the Door is here."

 _ALL_ of them nodded resolutely this time.

* * *

It was strangely _quiet._ One would have thought that the closer they were to the enemy's den, they more the enemy would be, both in numbers, and in strength. Yet, in that gateway, all they encountered were stranglers. It was easy to tell, too; they were somewhat damaged. Some severe, some minor. But none were unscathed.

Very, _very_ strangely _quiet._

At least, now it proved one thing.

Cloud went this way. And he was heading straight to the Door.

* * *

He sighed as the last of his former comrades disappeared. He wouldn't be too naive to hope for their permanent defeat. They _would_ come back.

And for that, he couldn't afford to waste time.

He uncorked his last potion and downed the whole bottle in one go. Downing the potion was more potent, and it would prevent him from wasting even a drop of it.

He flexed his fingers on the sword's grip, feeling his wounds close. Now that round one was done, time for round two.

...This might be an odd time to think such a thing, but...

How many "rounds" did _Zack_ defeat...?

Cloud Strife scoffed as the first manikin screamed a hideous battle cry, a mimicry of the original person— _warrior_ it was based of.

* * *

With the last vestiges of his strength, he heaved his sword, throwing it across the arena. Which was an impressive feat, if one considered just how big and heavy that thing was. As the sword landed tip-first on the Door, it glowed brighter before closing.

Well, the Door was more like a crack on the ground, actually...

With his main weapon behind the enemy lines, he had no other choice but to rely on his magic before he retrieved it. Not that he was going to last long, anyway.

But he would be damned if he didn't make most of it...

As the remaining manikins charged, he charged his Meteorain, and sent the balls of inferno upon them, hearing roars as some of them were destroyed. He dashed as he let loose a Firaga from his hand.

Time to fight, _again._

* * *

Cloud never remembered how long he had laid there, blood flowing out of his wounds. His face was frozen in a serene expression despite being unable to defeat all of those remaining manikins. In his right hand, he had his trusty Buster Sword in loose grip. Red tinted his vision as blood flowed into his eye. He could've sworn that he had seen some surviving manikins, but they weren't coming, even as he waited.

Waiting to give them his final attack.

His lips twitched at the irony of his demise. It was _almost exactly_ like Zack's, back on their world, their Planet (dubbed "Gaia"). They were both alone in death, after defeating countless enemies, for the sake of protecting someone.

Cloud's memory of _that day_ came to the forefront of his mind, its clarity was that of an event that had just happened the day before.

Zack was lugging him around in his catatonic state from mako poisoning. Able to escape most attempts for nearly a year, it was at the cliffs overlooking Midgar did Zack get cornered. Before facing off the army, Zack had rubbed his head affectionately, ruffling this blond, spiky locks. Cloud had tried to stop his friend from leaving, but what could he do? He was only able to reach out halfway with one lone hand, before his hand dropped again. Said army Zack faced was near without number, completely and utterly outnumbering him. Zack was a SOLDIER, and he didn't go down without slaughtering most of them.

Yes. _Most._

It was the surviving _few_ (countable within two hands' worth of fingers) that finished him off.

While _Cloud?_ Cloud faced his former allies, a countless army he would have should he stayed with Chaos. But he couldn't. Not after seeing Tifa. It was rather a spur of the moment, but he didn't regret doing _ANY_ of it.

...Thinking back, his story seemed _paled_ in comparison with Zack's. Well, it mattered not.

After all, they both went down fighting. Fighting for something dear to them—something worth fighting for.

That was good enough for him.

* * *

When they made it to the Door to The Rift, it was silent. _Too_ silent. But they soon saw why.

The battlefield was _chaotic,_ arena wrecked. Here and there, there were bits of manikins, and some splatter of blood. But compared to the blood, the pieces of the manikins were much, much more. Those pieces were practically like _pebbles_ on a rocky path; they practically covered every inch of the arena. They stared in disbelief at it.

It was worthy of a _war_ 's aftermath.

Everyone scattered around, looking. They had taken care of the few manikins they had met when they entered. But there were no more. And they were wondering the same thing; _where was the Door?_

It was when they were wandering around did they hear an anguished wail.

Surprised, they turned and ran toward the source, recognizing the voice immediately as Tifa's. When they got to her, however, it wasn't a sight they wanted to see.

Tifa was hunched over a bloody body. Tifa was wailing, tears flowing out of her eyes in rivers. She was hugging the limp form of her friend, uncaring of the blood that was tainting her top red. The body was that of a certain someone.

Cloud... The one they thought had left them.

His eyes were closed, his head bloody. The blood had run down his face, making it look more gruesome. There were multiple wounds on him. Much more than when they first met him in the Order's Sanctuary. Through those wounds, his blood poured out of him, painting the ground around him with the redness of blood. His clothes were torn, but not embarrassingly so. In fact, it made him looked more like a warrior—dying after he couldn't fight any longer due to his wounds, and he had lasted for a _long_ time.

It was the small smile on his pale face that threw them off, though.

It was serene.

 _Like he was welcoming Death, knowing its cold embrace was inevitable..._

* * *

 **I wrote this chapter quite a bit ago, but damn, it's _still_ heartbreaking. I edited it while feeling _very_ tired, my brain's pretty much fried due to something I had to do earlier today, so pardon my mistakes.  
**

 **Only the epilogue's left. I think it should be up by the end of the week (or the beginning of next week, depending on your region). This story isn't exactly long—not by my standards, and it's not easy to write. In fact, it's such a pain; I believed that I rushed the ending, but I dunno. Anyway, I hope it's worth it.**

 **By the way, if you hate _this_ ending, wait until you read the epilogue.**

 **Cheers,**

 **C. Rinkuki Takato**


	7. Epilogue

Author note at the bottom.

* * *

 **DISCLAIMER: All materials belong to their respective owners. I'm just playing around in their sandbox while feeling happy that I don't have to think of the next canon plot whatsoever.**

* * *

 **EPILOGUE**

* * *

Since that day—dubbed " _The Undocumented Battle_ " by most—Tifa had changed, both in appearance, _and_ personality.

She changed out of her white top, and went for a black vest over a white top. She also changed her mini skirt for a pair of black pants, with a black robe-like appendage for the back. She wore a pair of black boots, and black leather gloves. Around her left arm, she wore the jewellery Cloud himself had worn.

The brawler still smiled, still laughed. Yet both no longer had the spark that was there prior to the battle. She no longer cried as often, too. It was like his death had sobered and matured her. Yuna, Laguna and Vaan had tried their best, yet she remained like that—almost as stoic as Lightning and WoL themselves. Her three companion could not help but worry of her change. However, before she was even asked, she said that she kept remembering _him,_ and left it at that.

No one questioned her sudden change any more.

And Lightning? She patted her shoulder once in a while, especially when she was feeling down. Laguna _was_ right; Lightning might be a jerk, but she _cared._ She just hid her caring personality under all those stoicism and ice.

Lightning still punched Laguna whenever he called her "softy", though.

She endured, because they were there with her, supporting her all the way.

Tifa Lockhart never thought she could be any more grateful of them than she already was.

* * *

Tifa closed her fist around her crystal; a light green materia ( _the White Materia_ , was her vague thought). They had won. They had defeated Chaos. Even after Cosmos was killed by Chaos himself, they had finally defeated him with the time Cosmos bought for them with her life.

Much like _him..._

The first to leave was Lightning. The pink-haired woman left with a salute, a genuine small smile, and a nod. And in a burst of pink light and her trademark rose petals, she disappeared. The next one was Tidus and Yuna—they left while holding hands, walking toward the nearest lake. Then there was Zidane. After the thief, both Laguna and Squall disappeared as they returned to their world. Who would have thought _they,_ of all people, shared the same one... The martial artist closed her eyes as she felt herself returning to her world—it was her turn now. She felt her crystal warming in her hands, the warmth gentle and welcoming, much like a mother's touch.

"We did it, Cloud... We broke the cycle... It's over; no one is going to die because the gods forced them to fight any more. "But it seems like an empty win... Like I actually lost. I wish you were here..."

A familiar snort sounded in front of her before a pair of familiar leather clad hands encircled her and pulled her close. Tifa felt her eyes sting as she smelled that familiar scent. She braved herself to look up at the one who was hugging her.

Familiar blonde spikes greeted her, the mako blue eyes sparkling.

The brawler sobbed as she returned the swordsman's hug, her tears of happiness flowing freely as her lips formed a smile despite the tears, as he replied,

"Let's go home, Tifa."

His answer? It was a hug with a bit of wet— _tears,_ and a nod against his shoulder.

Her answer? A familiar amused snort, and strong arms encircling her back.

* * *

 **Damn... Ain't it sweet? By the way, _sunflowerspot_ , does this answer you? (grins)**

 **This is it, it's finally done. Real life's gonna get me _real_ soon, so I'm finishing this now (yeah!)**

 **Well, hope you people enjoyed this.**

 **Before you asked, no, I won't be doing any sequels. And as for what happened with the others or our...pair, I'll leave it to your imagination.**

 **C. Rinkuki Takato**


End file.
